Woodward was apprenticed to a linen draper in 1680. However, Dr. Peter Barwick discovered him, and brought him into his home for four years (1684-8). There he was educated in medicine and much else. Woodward thereafter pursued a medical practice in London. He was awarded by special dispension of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1695, what was called a Lambeth degree, and in 1697, Cambridge conferred on him an M.D. He lectured on bile to the Royal College of Physicians, and was professor of physic at Gresham College from 1692 to 1728. He is said to have been recognized as an authority on comparative anatomy. Woodward's interests ranged very widely over natural history and antiquities, but he is generally considered the first major figure in English geology. He considered his theory of the earth to be a defense of Scripture. At his death he received the final sacrament of the church and professed his Anglican faith, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey. Woodward carried out systematic experimentation on plant nutrition in the early 90s, demonstrating for the first time that water taken in by the roots is exhaled (or transpired as the word is now). Woodward was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1693, and to the Royal College of Physicians in 1703.

An Essay

An Essay, 1695

1. English, 1695 [First edition].
[Contained within a double rule box:] An Essay toward a | Natural History | Of The | Earth: | And | Terrestrial Bodies, | Especially | Minerals: | As also of the | Sea, Rivers, and Springs. | With an Account of the | Universal Deluge: | And of the Effects that it had upon the | Earth. | [rule] | By John Woodeard, M.D. Professor of Physick in | Gresham-College, and Fellow of the Royal Society. | [rule] | London: Printed for Ric. Wilkin at the | Kings-Head in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1695.

Scarce. On excursions, which started early in his medical career, he studied both plants and minerals, and especially fossils. Essay Toward a Natural History of the Earth, 1695, which established his reputation, advanced a theory to explain stratification (and the fossils embedded in strata) by the deposit of debris out of the deluge. He insisted that fossils were the remains of once living animals and plants, and he related fossils to specific rock formations. He formed a large collection of fossils and minerals, many of which were sent to him from abroad. He attempted to classify them-Naturalis historia telluris, 1714; Fossils of All Kinds Digested into a Method, 1728, which is primarily a classification of minerals (included in the generic term "fossil"); An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England, posthumous, 1729, dealing with minerals as well. He also wrote an unpublished treatise on the natural history of ores and metals.

2. English, 1702 [2nd edition].
[Contained within a double rule box:] An Essay toward a | Natural History | Of The | Earth: | And | Terrestrial Bodies, | Especially | Minerals: | As also of the | Sea, Rivers, and Springs. | With an Account of the | Universal Deluge: | And of the Effects that it had upon the | Earth. | [rule] | By John Woodeard, M.D. Professor of Physick in | Gresham College: and Fellow of the Royal Society. | [rule] | The Second Edition. | [rule] | London, | Printed by T.W. for Richard Wilkin at the | Kings-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1702

Bibliographical references: Jahn, Bibliographical History of John Woodward, 1972: 191-3.

3. English, 1723 [3rd edition].
[Contained within a double rule box:] An Essay towards a | Natural History | Of The | Earth, | And | Terrestrial Bodyes, | Especialy | Minerals: | As also of the | Sea, Rivers, and Springs. | With an Account of the | Universal Deluge: | And of the Effects that it had upon the | Earth. | [rule] | By John Woodward, M.D. Professor of | Physick in Gresham-College: Fellow of the Col- | lege of Physicians, and of the Royal-Society. | [rule] | The Third Edition. | [rule] | London: | Printed for A. Bettesworth and W. Taylor | in Pater-noster Row, R. Gosling at the Mid- | dle-Temple-Gate in Fleet-street, and J. Clarke | under the Royal-Exchange in Cornhill, 1723.

Scarce. This volume contains translations of three books, all authored by Woodward. These are: (1) On pages 1-166, Woodward's "Essay," translated from the third English edition of 1723. (2) Pages 167-307 contain Woodward's reply to Camerarius' objections, made from Holloway's 1726 English Translation titled: "The Natural History of the Earth, illustrated, inlarged, and defended." (3) On pages 309-389 is the translation of "Fossils of all kinds," from which the author's preface and the plates have been omitted.

Rare. Woodward's reply to the comments of Camerarius on his new geological and palaeontological teachings. The "Methodica" is addressed to Sir Isaac Newton. Woodward has included a synopsis of his system of minralogical classification.

11. English, 1726 [English transl.].
The natural history of the earth illustrated, enlarged, and defended / written originally in Latin ; and now first made English by Benj. Holloway ; to which are added, physical proofs of the existence of God, his actual incessant concurrence to the support of the universe, and of all organical bodyes, vegetables, and animals, particularly man ; with several other papers, on different subjects, never before printed ; by John Woodward. London : Printed and sold by Tho. Edlin, 1726.

Fossils of all Kinds

Fossils of all Kinds, 1728

13. English, 1728.
Fossils | Of all Kinds, | Digested into a | Method, | Suitable to their mutual | Relation and Affinity; | with | The Names by which they are known | to the Antients, [sic] and those by which they | are at this Day known: And Notes con- | ducing to the setting forth the Natural | History, and the main Uses, of some of | the most considerable of them. | As Also | Several Papers tending to further Advance- | ment of Knowledge of Minerals, of the | Ores of Metalls, and of all other Sub- | terraneous Productions. | [double rule] | By John Woodward, M.D. late Pro- | [...3 lines of titles and memberships...] | [double rule] | London: | Printed for William Innys, at the West- | End of St. Paul's. M.DCC.XXVIII.

Very scarce. Fossils of All Kinds is one of the earliest attempts to systemize mineralogy. First published as an appendix to Naturlis Historia Telluris (London, 1714), Woodward translated and enlarged this essay into the present work. Woodward's system divides minerals into six classes: 1) Earths, 2) Stones, 3) Salts, 4) Bitumens, 5) Minerals, 6) Metals. In turn each of these classes is subdivided by the physical properties of the specimens, including taste, color, touch, etc. By this method, about 200 minerals are classified and described. The volume also contains a folding table (384 x 220 mm., facing page 1) that outlines the overall classification. The six plates illustrate a discussion of the origins of stone artifacts.

An Attempt

An Attempt, 1728

14. English, 1728-9.
An | Attempt | Towards a | Natural History | Of The | Fossils of England; | In | A Catalogue of the English Fossils | in the Collection of | J. Woodward, M.D. | Containing | A Description and Historical Account | of each; with Observations and Experiments, | made in order to discover, as well the Origin | and Nature of them, as their Medicinal, Mecha- | nical, and other Uses. | [rule] | Part I. [-II.] | Of the Fossils that are real and natural: | Earths, Stone, Marble, Talcs, Coralloids, Spars, | Crystals, Gemms, Bitumens, Salts, Marcasites, | Minerals, and Metals. | [rule] | Tome I. [-II.] | [rule] | London: | Printed for F. Fayram, at the Royal Exchange; J. Senex, in | Freet-street; and J. Osborn and T. Longman, in Pater- | noster-Row. M.DCC.XXIX.

Very scarce. An Attempt Towards a Natural History of the Fossils of England was Woodward's last book, having been issued postumenously. In itself, the work is a remarkable catalog of the very large collection of both foreign and English fossils and minerals the author amassed during his life time. Between four and five thousand specimens are arranged and described under eleven separate classes-the number of classes having been increased by five over Fossils of All Kinds Digested (London, 1728). Volume one describes the minerals and fossils found in England which Woodward bequeathed, along with an endowment for a professorship,to Cambridge University, where, to this day, they are maintained in their original cabinets, according to Woodward's scheme. The second volume consists of those minerals and fossils, both English and foreign, that he thought were of lesser importance. These specimens were auctioned off along with Woodward's library on 11 November 1728.